1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for producing a virtual common space used to take a rest or the like in a TV conference, telecommuting or the like.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, each organization such as a company, a corporation, a public office or the like prepares an office space as a working place of employed laborers (called workers hereinafter) who are engaged in an office job, trade business, technological business not needing a large equipment. Generally, the workers arrive at the office space until the working start time utilizing public transportation, private cars or the like and work together in that office during a predetermined working time. Efficient working in various jobs has been realized by equipping a telephone, a copying machine, a fax machine, a computer, a computer network and the like in the office space.
This collective working custom is comparatively a recent phenomenon which comes into adoption for the purpose of realizing an efficient management of a factory after establishment of the Industrial Revolution in the history of mankind. Recently, harmful effects such as fatigue in a commute, atmospheric pollution due to the increase of private cars and the like depending on a collective working style have been remarkably brought. On the other hand, since the communicating infrastructure such as the Internet or the like and various communicating technology have been able to be utilized, the collective working style is not always an inevitable working style for each organization and the workers. Preferably, a dispersive working style, which is characterized in that the workers belonging to the same organization are to be telecommuted at respective homes or favorite places near the organization such that the intended business is to be collectively performed, has been gradually noticed.
Generally, in order to realize the dispersive working style in the organization such as a company or the like, one room in each worker's home is used as a working space (called home office hereinafter) and plural home offices dispersed at remote places are connected each other through a communication line so as to adopt a method of using a home communication terminal device such as a telephone, a fax machine and the like, and a communication application system, whereby necessary communication means among the workers can be kept. For example, the communication line is composed of a subscriber telephone network, an ISDN network, a line dedicated for the Internet or the like. The communication application system is constituted by an E-mail system, a WWW (World Wide Web) system, a TV conference system or the like.
The workers utilize a satellite office, a telecottage or the like provided by the belonging organization, a local government or the like besides the home office. In case of the trade business or maintenance work, a seat in a private car or the public transportation used for visiting customers is utilized as a temporary working space (mobile office).
Recently, with the advance of trial for accomplishing the business characterized in that the worker is to be telecommuted while performing the communication with other workers using the above various equipments and the communication application system, harmful effects have been brought.
As a first problem, a sense of alienation due to the decrease of informal communication has been born. For example, a booklet issued by the related agencies describes “a teleworker (home worker and satellite office worker) is sometimes in a risk of falling into a state being alienated from the information, to prevent this situation is the most important problem to be solved, and thus it is required to contrive to quickly send not only business information but other information to the teleworker”.
Generally, in an ordinary office, it is considered that information other than the business information is almost casually exchanged among the workers in a rest room (refresh room) during a rest time. The above various home communication terminal devices and the communication application which realize the dispersive working style can not realize the informal communication as exchanged in the rest room, among the workers dispersed at remote places.
The decrease of the informal communication among the workers inevitably causes difficulty in sense of unity within the organization, and the workers feel the sense of isolation or alienation. This fact becomes a serious hindrance in continuing the dispersive working style for a long period.
As a second problem, in the home office, the teleworker is in a risk of falling into a state being felt the overwork comparing with ordinary workers of the collective working style. According to the above booklet, it is warned that “in case of a home working style, it must be avoided from the careless long work or the work extended to the midnight owing to an excess zeal of the worker for the work”. As indicated by the documentary records other than the above booklet related to home working, since the home worker is entrusted with own decision regarding the management of working hours and choice of the rest, the home worker well understands necessity of taking the rest, and the rest can be taken in the home office. In spite of this fact, it is tended not to pay attention in taking the rest because the work is to be performed by only the single worker.